Cosmic Responding
by trek-grrrl
Summary: A character who can do anything pokes its nose into this story. Bill and Ralph pass a milestone, then discover the CR Net. Bill gets the suit, and realizes something about himself. Bill, OFC.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One.

"You got it, Ralph?" Bill Maxwell asked his partner and best friend, Ralph Hinkley.

Ralph indicated the small transceiver on his belt buckle. "Right here, Bill, but there's one little problem with this, once I'm up there."

"What's that?"

"Sound waves don't travel in the vacuum of space. I won't hear you, you won't hear me."

"Hmmm, yeah, there's that. Well, it'll be radio blackout, like the astronauts get when they're returning to Earth."

"That's another thing. Am I going to be a big flaming ball of Ralph on the way back in?"

"Only if you go too fast. C'mon, Ralph, we've seen you can go supersonic. This is the next step, I'm sure! Going into low Earth-orbit!"

Ralph looked up into the blue sky, not being able to picture what it was going to be like. He'd already shown himself he could go underwater for an indefinite amount of time; could the vacuum of space be all that different?

Well, yeah, 'course it's different, he thought to himself. But he had to prove this to both himself and to Bill.

Pam leaned past Bill to give Ralph a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you when you get back, Ralph!"

He muttered something under his breath, that sounded strangely like "If I get back..."

Bill tested the radio, and Ralph heard it coming in clearly from his belt buckle.

"All right, ready to launch, Ralph?"

"Now's as good a time as any, I guess. Do you think I should take some deep breaths, just in case?"

Bill and Pam laughed. "Doubt that'll help. You'll either do it or not, whether or not you've got a lungful of air. Come back immediately if you start getting into distress, Ralph. Not worth learning if you kill yourself in the process."

"Gee, thanks for the concern, Bill."

Ralph stood apart, looking up again and focusing on some invisible point over the Earth.

"Remember, Ralph, seven miles per second! If you don't do that, you won't escape Earth's gravity well!"

Ralph smirked at his friend. "When did you become such an expert, Bill?"

"My pal at work, the one with the wind tunnel in his basement. Just a font of information, that boy is."

"Hmmmm, seven miles per second," Ralph mumbled. He shrugged his shoulders. Oh well, I'm either going to do it, or not.

Ralph stood in place, staring up, focusing, visualizing the planet Earth, what it's like to orbit it like an astronaut does, what it's like when said astronaut goes EVA.

I'll go up, look around a bit, then come back. Hopefully. Glad I know the lay of the land like I do, so I can find Bill and Pam and California again.

Keeping that image in his mind, he took a deep breath any way, for his own comfort, and ran three times. He launched himself as usual, but turned to arrow STRAIGHT up, vertically instead of horizontally. He'd done that before, as well, gaining altitude. This time, however, he didn't level off.

He kept reciting to himself, Seven miles per second, and as he did, he could tell, he could FEEL that he was accelerating.

Most of his concentration was focused on what he was doing, but a small part of him was reveling in the sensation of it all. Faster, faster, the air getting colder, thinner, yet it wasn't adversely affecting him. He didn't know why, and didn't want to think about it too much.

He heard Bill's voice from the transceiver, sounding weaker and more attenuated as the seconds wore on. Ralph knew he didn't have much time to reply back.

"Bill, shut up and listen! I'm okay! It's weird; the air is thin and cold, and getting thinner and colder, and it's not bothering me in the slightest! This is fun, it's exhilerating! I can't talk much longer, Bill, the sky's gone from blue to black, I can see stars!"

He didn't even know if he was actually speaking aloud any longer, if his voice was vibrating the vaporous atmosphere enough to produce sound waves. He kept a running commentary any way, describing what he was seeing.

"Pam and Bill, you should SEE this, it's incredible! I'm not even feeling it, it's amazing, and I don't even seem to need air. I can see stars, I can see the Moon. I could see the Sun if I look that way, but I don't wanna risk it."

He focused ahead of him, and to the sides, and spied tiny little objects. "Bill, I can see some satellites up here! It's great! I'm going further out, there's still a bit of atmosphere here, I can feel it, I can SMELL it, it's like after a thunderstorm! Ozone, yeah! Wow!"

He pushed further, merely having to focus on the will to do so and he did. Further, further... he almost wondered if he'd be able to reach the Moon if he tried hard enough! But that was for another day... maybe. He was too amazed that he was actually in orbit, in SPACE, over the planet Earth.

He turned to look down, from where he'd come, and his eyes misted over at the beauty revealed to him. The tears eked out of his eyes and drifted into their own little orbits, globules to be left in orbit forever.

"Oh, my God," he whispered. Now he understood what he'd read about astronauts who saw the jewel of Earth in such a fashion for the first time. One astronaut had opined that it's impossible to be an astronaut and an atheist, once that vision of beauty is before you.

Ralph's whisper was more in praise than pejorative, and he was mesmerized by what he saw. He spied a big weather system over the south Pacific, saw flashes of lightning that seemed to flash UP into space, rather than down to the ground.

He realized he'd been rubbernecking long enough, and had to start the descent back to Earth, Bill and Pam.

Now how do I do this without burning up, he wondered.

He concentrated once again, this time thinking DOWN, not UP. He felt himself moving, falling, and consciously checked his descent. It worked! He wasn't just free-falling into Earth's gravity well, as he was afraid he'd do.

He had no sense of altitude, or speed, for a time. Before he knew it, he heard Bill's desperate voice over his transceiver.

"Ralph! Ralph, answer me, you there, buddy? C'mon, you've been gone almost half an hour, let's go! Pam's getting scared!"

Pam wasn't the only one scared, but Bill wasn't going to admit to it.

Ralph laughed and flicked the switch. "I'm here, Bill, I'm here! It was GREAT! I don't think anything will ever compare to what I just did!"

There was a pause, and Ralph imagined his best friend and his wife hugging one another in relief.

"Well, get your butt DOWN HERE," Bill demanded, sounding more like his usual acerbic self, now that he was assured Ralph was unharmed.

"I'm homing in on you right now, Bill, hang on. I can see southern California. I'll keep talking till I get there!"

And he did, relaying to them both what he'd seen, what he'd experienced. No matter how hard he tried, however, he knew he'd never truly convey to them what had happened to him. He had joined that elite rank of Humans who'd been off the planet, and could now identify with them about why it was such a driving need to do so again and again, regardless of the dangers involved.

Ralph, Pam and Bill retired to the Hinkley house for the debriefing on how their little experiment had gone that day. Ralph's continuing exhileration was rubbing off on Pam and Bill, and the three enjoyed dinner together, laughing and cutting up.

Little did the three realize that they were not the only ones who were aware of Ralph's trip to space. Someone had been watching this latest advance from the Sol III team. Watching and smiling. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two.

The following Saturday, a week after Ralph's triumphant trip into space and safe return to Earth, Bill went to his partner's house.

"Okay, we've gotta figure something else out, Ralph."

Ralph motioned his friend in and went to the kitchen to fetch coffee.

"Is this something we want Pam for? She's at the office this morning, working on a case that goes to court on Monday."

"Naw, you and I can bat this around, get her feedback later. I was thinking about what little we saw in the instruction book, before YOU lost it again."

Ralph winced at Bill's turn of phrase, but didn't comment. He'd berated himself enough for that blunder, no need to re-hash it.

"What's that?"

"Cosmic responding."

"I thought we figured that out," Ralph said, handing a cup of coffee to Bill.

"Naw, that was that light thingie, you shrinking. Or gravity. Just listen to it: cosmic responding. What does it MEAN?"

Ralph, with his own coffee in hand, sat down next to Bill on the couch. His brow crinkled up as he considered the phrase.

"Hmmmm, I don't know. Cosmos? The universe? And responding? Answering? Asking? Who knows?"

The two sat there quietly, sipping coffee and pondering to themselves what that phrase meant.

Bill turned to look at Ralph, and noted his friend was wearing the suit. Ralph saw his glance and looked at Bill, the question in his eyes.

"I was checking to see if you had the suit on," Bill said quietly.

"Oh."

They resumed their pondering, both quiet, both open to what the term could mean.

Ralph had finished his coffee, sipping and thinking, and put his hand on Bill's shoulder to hoist himself up.

"Well, Bill..." he started, and a sense of dizziness hit him. Ralph fell back on the couch, his head swimming. He released his grip on Bill's shoulder as he did so.

"What was THAT?" Ralph exclaimed.

Bill had fallen back against the couch as well, his hand to his head. "I don't KNOW, Ralph, but I felt it too, when you touched me!"

Ralph put his hand on Bill's shoulder, and the wave of dizziness hit them again. Bill bolted off the couch, turning to face Ralph.

"Oh, man, more creepy stuff! What was that? We didn't see anything, we weren't holographing! Were you getting precognition again?"

"No, no, it was different, it was NEW, Bill!"

Bill paced nervously back and forth. "What were we doing, what were we thinking?"

"Cosmic responding."

"Hmmmm," Bill replied, thinking furiously.

"It was quiet, we were both wondering what that phrase meant, and I touched you, and we got dizzy. Let's do it again!" Ralph encouraged his friend to sit back down.

"No, that...that was too weird, Ralph, I had this sense... this sense..." Bill stopped. "I can't tell you how it felt, Ralph!"

Ralph held his hand out. "Here, give me your hand, sit down."

Bill gave him a funny look. "No!"

"C'mon, Bill, I won't bite. Sit down, let's link up again. Gimme your hand."

Bill reluctantly took Ralph's hand, and sat down next to his best friend.

"Lean back, close your eyes, and let's think again how we were, let's open ourselves to cosmic responding."

"'Open ourselves' he says," Bill grumbled, but did as his friend told him.

"Empty your mind, Bill, just think about what we were doing, don't pay attention to the dizziness and that sense you had, just empty your brain."

"All right, all ready, shut up! I'm opening, I'm opening!"

"No you're not, you're TENSING! Empty, empty, just be."

Ralph squeezed Bill's hand gently to shut him up, and the two were quiet once more for a few moments.

Oh, brother, Bill thought.

Bill? he heard.

Ralph? came Bill's startled thought in reply.

Oh, God, they both thought simultaneously.

So we can talk telepathically, so what? Bill sent to Ralph.

Are you dizzy?

Naw, not at all now.

They sat that way, again for a few moments, talking to one another on a surface-thought level, not delving too deeply. After a bit, they both began to feel a tickle in their heads.

This is what it felt like when SHE was in here! Bill exclaimed, suddenly alarmed.

Don't be afraid, came the thought, we won't hurt you.

? was all Bill and Ralph could say.

We were all quiet, waiting for you two to get used to the sensation, but then Bill exhibited alarm and fright.

I'm not scared! Bill insisted.

Who... who are you? Ralph queried tentatively, daring to "stretch" his mind out a bit more. The dizziness and sense of openness, of expanse, hit him and Bill simultaneously.

Whoa! Bill yelled inside his head.

I am Kashar, I am here to greet you to the 'net.

The 'net?

The cosmic responding 'net. Or as we call it, the CR net.

A sense of confusion was all that came from Ralph and Bill.

Kashar continued in their heads. We've been waiting for you, the Sol III team.

Ralph and Bill caught a sense of amusement from Kashar, as well as others that were becoming evident on the net.

Sol III team? they both queried.

Yes, you're on Sol III, aren't you?

OH, you mean our SUN, yes, I guess it is also known as Sol! Ralph pointed out. And we ARE the third planet from Sol, so Sol III it is. But we call it 'Earth.'

Or Terra, Bill pointed out.

How 'bout we call it Sol III, just to avoid confusion, Kashar thought to them. That's how we other teams know it.

Other teams?

Sure, you didn't think you were the only ones the, uh... 'green guys' visited, did you? I mean, as Bill so humorously refers to them.

Bill suddenly felt nervous, wondering what else they'd heard him call the aliens who gave the suit to Ralph.

Don't worry, Bill, they think it's funny. Cosmic creeps, cosmic clowns, what else was there?

God, Bill thought.

No, he's not here... at least I don't think he is... but no matter, I'm here to greet you both. When new teams join, they're often disoriented and confused, thinking they were the only intelligence in the great wide cosmos.

Kashar felt Ralph's mental smile. I guess we're not, after all, Ralph thought back.

Indeed not.

Where are you, Kashar? Bill interjected.

Hmmmm, well, distance, place and time really don't mean anything on the CR net. So never mind, doesn't matter.

OK, came Bill's simple reply.

Do you two know what did it? Kashar asked, still emanating that amused "feel."

The being in their heads sensed Ralph's and Bill's negative responses.

It's when Ralph went into space. That was the next step, and you two figured it out! That triggered it, so the next time you two touched, and opened up, it would launch you out onto the net, which is what just happened.

What's the point, now that we're on the net? Ralph asked.

Oh, well, it's good for a lot of stuff. You can learn things, you can converse with others, find out what's going on in the cosmos, or your local galaxy, doesn't matter. The main thing is you can call for help in case of emergencies. That's its primary purpose.

Call for help? Bill asked, amazed. I didn't know we could do that, I thought Ralph and I were on our own.

Oh, what you two have faced hasn't BEEN worthy of an emergency-call.

It HASN'T? The images of what they'd done in the months and years since becoming a team flooded their minds, shooting out onto the CR net. The others on the net, who'd been hanging back mentally, shook and shimmied with amusement.

Kashar had to laugh mentally. No, no. Granted, to YOU, those have seemed truly urgent. I mean things like this.

And Ralph and Bill suddenly KNEW, and felt, what some of the teams, working in conjunction with one another, had had to face. Imminent supernovae. Alien invasions. Planet-wide plagues threatening to wipe out all life. Superior beings toying with their people as if they were toys, or ants. Colliding planets.

Wow, the Earth team thought.

Hey, Spoilsport was pretty dire, Bill pointed out, confident the observers on the net would understand.

Yes, that is true, and you two handled it well! It was after that that many of us began watching you two. Sadly, there was nothing we could do to help. The green guys knew, of course, but it had to be left to you to resolve, for good or for bad. Kudos for pulling it off so beautifully!

They felt the praise from the others, skulking in the background of their minds, as well. The Earth team couldn't help but preen at the attention.

We do what we have to, Bill thought in a gruff tone.

At this point, the two still reclined back on the couch and holding hands, Pam came in the door. She stopped, amazed to see the two thus.

"Ralph? Bill?" she asked quietly, walking to them.

Neither moved nor acknowledged her presence.

She sat in the chair opposite them, watching. Every so often, a muscle would twitch in a cheek, or the mouths would move. She noticed their eyes were moving back and forth, as in a dream. Their hands were still clutched tightly together.

"Ralph?" she whispered again.

Kashar thought to them both, the tone of 'voice' smiling, Ut oh, looks like the little lady's home, Ralph.

Ralph aimed amusement back at Kashar. How do you know our slang so well?

I picked it up from your minds, and from observing you Humans for a time, since Spoilsport.

How do we break off from the net? We don't just let go of our hands, do we?

No, and thanks for asking. Here, I'll show you.

They sensed Kashar separating, and was gone. A few heartbeats later, they felt the distinct presence again.

See? Did you get the sense of what I did? It's like backing away.

The Earth team tried it, and they were gone, once again in one another's minds only.

Holy crap, Bill thought to Ralph. All right, Ralph, leggo of my hand!

The two pulled their hands and arms away, and opened their eyes.

"Pam! I knew you were here, sorry honey!"

"What the hell was that, why were you two holding hands? Can't I leave you two alone at all?"

Bill blushed and stood up, walking past Pam to retrieve a cold coke from the 'fridge.

"Funny, Counselor. Ralph and I just went for a trip around the cosmos."

"Huh?"

"Get me one of those too, Bill, and I'll tell Pam all about it."

He took the coke, turned to his wife and exclaimed, "Cosmic responding, Pam! We did it! Bill and I, we were on the CR net, it was great, we could read one another's minds. We met a being named Kashar, who told us about it, and..."

Ralph continued relaying to Pam all that had happened to them while they were psychically hooked up to the cosmic responding net.

They'd sensed many on the net with them, watching and listening. The interest in the Sol III team was blossoming. Bill Maxwell and Ralph Hinkley. Bill was the Ops guy, and Ralph had the suit. The team was ready to leave the cradle and get to work throughout the galaxy. The other teams on the CR net started batting around ideas, to see where the two could start.

One presence on the 'net, however, unknown even to the green guys, was tapping in, as it was tapped in to the all of the great cosmos. It vibrated and coalesced over a broad range of the e-m spectrum, smiling to itself in its own incomprehensible fashion. This should be entertaining for a wink, it thought. 


	3. Chapter 3

Cosmic Responding, Chapter Three

"Get them, Ralph!" Bill Maxwell screamed at his partner, Ralph Hinkley, as the FBI agent let go another barrage of gunfire at the fleeing bank felons.

He took a millisecond to glance to his right as he saw his young friend emerge from behind a tall stand of bushes, wearing his special red suit given to him by aliens.

Ralph took the traditional three running steps, aimed his arms in front of him and... bellyflopped onto the ground.

"OOF!" he groaned, shaking his head.

"C'mon, Ralph, quit messin' around! They're gettin' away!" Bill said, turning back to see the retreating backs of the three men who'd knocked over the bank.

Ralph picked himself up quickly, again ran the three steps, and this time landed on the bushes along the sidewalk.

"OW!" he yelled, his head down in the bush, his legs dangling out.

"Dammit!" Bill screamed, giving chase as well as he could, not waiting to see what the hell was wrong with Ralph. He saw the men jump into a black unmarked van, and his keen eyesight caught part of the license plate number before they made their getaway. He marked it down in his notepad and finally turned to see what was wrong with Ralph.

"God dammit, Ralph, they got away! Quit screwing around, go GET 'em! They're in a black van and..."

Ralph's loud groans stopped Bill when the agent realized his friend wasn't doing too well.

"What'sa matter with you? Get up! Whaddya mean, 'ow'?" Bill reached into the bush and grabbed a hand, giving Ralph a strong yank to pull the younger man standing.

Ralph stood, barely, swaying back and forth, clutching his right arm. "I couldn't FLY, Bill! It's like it's gone right out of me!"

He looked down and saw a trickle of red eke its way out from under his red sleeve, onto the back of his hand.

"You CUT yourself?" Bill asked incredulously, staring at the red streak of blood.

Before they could ponder how or why Ralph could get hurt in the suit, let alone not fly, the sound of rapidly approaching police sirens interrupted them.

"Quick, Ralph, your clothes are in my car! Get outta the jammies before the locals get here!"

Ralph ducked in quickly and began the long, slow, NORMAL process of removing the suit. He was confused and hurt, and now he had to get out of the jammies before he had the added problem of being hauled to the looney bin. Again.

Bill had his ID and badge out when the first L.A. police car pulled up. "Howdy, boys. Bill Maxwell, FBI, Los Angeles. I got something on the perps before they got away, c'mere."

It didn't take Bill long to wrap up his end of things, and they were soon heading to Ralph's house nearby.

"What happened, Ralph?"

Ralph clutched his sore bleeding arm to his side and wailed, "I don't KNOW, Bill! I did like I always do, but NOTHING!"

The two were silent the rest of the way, wondering if they'd inadvertantly done something wrong to anger the green guys. The only recent and significant event in their lives as The Team had been discovering how to launch out onto the CR Net, a couple of weeks before.

Bill followed Ralph into the house and offered to fix his partner's injuries. He went to the bathroom and got bandages, antiseptic ointment and medical tape.

Ralph was looking at his suit, the whole mass wadded in his hands, and threw it all down in disgust. It landed in a heap on the couch.

"What the hell, Bill? What can I do, if I can't use the suit we can't get out on the CR net to ask the green guys or the other teams what could've happened!"

Bill went to the suit and picked up the shirt, running the sleeves through his fingers to see if he could find any tears. The entire fabric appeared undamaged, so all he could conclude was that the cuts and scrapes happened through the material, like when Ralph had gone into the Black and been mauled by the monster that lived within.

"Here, lemme get you fixed up, and try it again. There's got to be an explanation."

Ralph was gently dabbing ointment on a scrape on his knee. "No, I'm not touching that thing till we figure something out, something we could've done!"

Bill started to throw the suit to him. "Naw, really, give it another go. Maybe it'll..."

"NO! I'm not putting that thing on yet, I told you! If you wanna try it, YOU put the damned thing on!"

Bill's eyes went wide as he imagined the unimaginable: What if the green guys had decided to make HIM the suit-wearing partner? Might explain Ralph's not being able to use it all of a sudden. Maybe they or "someone" sensed something about him on the CR 'net, something he and Ralph weren't even aware of.

He looked down at the jammies, as he called them. "You know, maybe I will put it on. Y'never know, after all."

Ralph, even though he was in pain and getting achier by the second, had to grin up at Bill. "Sure, what the hell? Maybe they're giving it to you now."

Bill went to Ralph's room, with Ralph's laughter behind him.

"I'll be sure to laugh my ass off, Bill!" he crowed.

"Yeah, yeah," Bill acknowledged as he shut the door.

Minutes later, after much fussing and adjusting, Bill looked at himself in the full length mirror.

Oh Lord, he thought, grinning a toothy grin at himself. He turned from side to side, and sucked in his little tummy. Okay, he wasn't as trim as Ralph was, but he still looked pretty good. Damn, my legs look too slender in this, he couldn't help noticing. He drew in a deep breath, expanding his chest, and had to admit that DID look mighty good.

"Not bad for an old man in his 50's," he muttered.

He walked to the door, reached for the doorknob, and paused, saying "Okay, Ralph, you ready?"

His friend laughed and said, "You bet, partner, let's see what you've got!"

Bill quickly opened the door and leapt out. "Ta da!"

Ralph doubled over, laughing, and after a few seconds looked up at Bill again, and started laughing even harder.

"Hey, it ain't THAT bad!" Bill said, joining his friend.

"No, no, you... you..." Ralph couldn't continue, all he could do was point and double over again, holding his gut. At least the laughing jag was making him forget his aches, pains, scrapes and cuts.

Bill finally waved his hand, trying to calm them both down. "Okay, okay, it's a hoot, let's see if it WORKS on me now! C'mere."

He went to the couch, and Ralph sat down next to him. They'd practiced getting onto the CR 'net a few times, so the routine was getting comfortable for them. They took hands, emptied their minds, and...

OH MY GOD, we're IN! came Bill's thought.

It's working on YOU? Ralph exclaimed in his mind, not caring if he and Bill were both broadcasting across the cosmos.

They sensed a ripple going through the 'net, and Kashar was with them instantly, sounding agitated.

What are you two DOING, yelling like that?

The thoughts coming from the Sol III partners overwhelmed the other listeners, and Kashar finally blasted, Calm down! What's going on? Bill?

The two Humans took calming breaths, and Bill said, I seem to be the suit-wearing partner now.

What? came the response from Kashar. An instant later, a more authoritative "voice" broke in.

Mr. Maxwell?

Bill and Ralph knew they were sensing the alien they'd met on the ship, after Ralph had been critically wounded.

Um, yeah, thanks for the suit, guys! When it didn't work on Ralph a while ago, we thought you gents were mad at us or something.

It did not work on Mr. Hinkley? came the startled reply.

Nothing came from Ralph and Bill for a moment, then Ralph piped in, almost timidly, Well, no, did you guys decide I wasn't doing something right?

Mr. Hinkley, we most certainly did not. YOU are the suit-wearing partner of the Sol III team.

There was a significant pause, then the team felt the alien once more.

Mr. Maxwell, Mr. Hinkley, my colleagues and I must discuss this unusual turn of events. Return to the 'net in twelve of your solar hours, and we may have some information for you.

It paused again, as if consulting some outside entity, then thought to them, Mr. Maxwell, while you are in the suit, please remember all that you and Mr. Hinkley have learned over the months and years. Do not try anything dangerous, that could harm yourself or Mr. Hinkley. Try it out in other ways, however, to get an idea of what your partner has to go through wearing it. Enjoy yourself in it, while you can.

The alien's presence melted away, and "he" was gone.

All this time, and indeed since Ralph's sojourn into low Earth orbit a couple of weeks before, another presence, unseen, unheard, unknown to all on the 'net, had been watching, waiting, and "smiling" to itself.

These two are rather amusing little things, it thought, especially Mr. Maxwell.

After Bill and Ralph returned to the here-and-now of Earth, they sat up straight and stretched.

Bill bounced effortlessly off the couch, as if simply KNOWING he had such great strength would do it. "Oh man, Ralph, I gotta try this thing out 'fore the green guys change their minds."

He was already running for the backyard. He had to FLY!

Ralph tore after him. "Bill, take it easy! You heard him, he said they don't know WHY you've got it now!"

Ralph heard the front door open and ran back into the living room.

"Pam!"

"Hey, Ralph," she said, setting her briefcase down.

Ralph looked nervously to the backyard, then back to Pam.

She saw the scrapes and cuts on his bare arms and his legs. "What happened, Ralph?"

"Hey, Ralph! C'mon, get out here, you ain't gonna wanna miss this!" Bill's happy voice came in from outside.

"What's Bill doing out there, barbecuing or something?" She looked toward the kitchen window to see if Bill was firing up the grill.

"No, um, there's been a weird turn of events with the suit, Pam."

She touched his bandaged elbow. "What happened? Did you get hurt in it?"

"Yeah, um... it doesn't work on me any more."

"WHAT?"

Ralph started to lead her to the back. "Yeah, um... it's Bill's now."

And with that, the two got to the patio just in time to see Bill launch himself into the air, as he'd seen Ralph do hundreds of times.

"Wheeee!" Bill screamed, and before the Hinkleys could respond, Bill vanished from sight.

"Holy CRAP!" Ralph screamed. "BILL!"

How in the hell did he manage to fly AND go invisible at the same time, especially being brand new to the experience? Ralph had tried and tried to master the technique, to no avail. It was just too hard to concentrate on BOTH, and he'd rather fly than be invisible and plummet to the ground. And now Bill, who'd only been wearing the suit for minutes, was doing both?

Pam knew what her husband must be thinking. After the initial shock had worked through her, she said, "Maybe it's because he's seen you do it so many times, he's actually learned from your mistakes."

No, that's not it, a voice said from nearby.

The two turned and twisted around, trying to locate the source.

"Who said that?" Ralph whispered to Pam. "Did you hear that too?"

"Yes, what WAS it? The aliens?"

Watch and learn, the voice said. He's doing most of it on his own, actually. I'm only helping a little. He's rather talented, you know.

All this time, they could hear Bill's whooping and laughing as he swooped and dived over their yard.

"Bill?" Ralph said loudly, "Where you at, buddy? C'mon! Get your butt down here, something's here with us!"

Bill appeared several yards above them, and went into a controlled dive. At the last second, he angled his body and neatly landed on his feet.

"And THAT'S how it's done!" he said, smiling at his younger friends. "Hey, Counselor, guess what!"

"Yes, I see, 'guess what,' Bill. But hang on, there is someone or something here with us," Pam said.

"Really?" Bill turned and surveyed their immediate vicinity as Pam and Ralph had. "I'm not seeing anyone."

"Try to pick up some vibes, Bill. You know the technique now, from linking in with me."

Bill emptied his mind and focused on a flat bit of fencing. He felt something, a presence, saw a shimmering of light, as in heat radiation off the pavement. He "moved" his mind toward it, closer, closer... and was blasted back, landing several yards away with a thud.

"Damn!" he exclaimed, shaking his head as if to clear it.

Ralph and Pam ran to him and reached down, each taking a hand to pull Bill standing.

"What happened, Bill?" Ralph asked, brushing his friend off.

"I don't KNOW! I felt something, and went to 'move' in closer and WHAM!"

Naughty, naughty, Billy, came the voice. You're lucky that didn't kill you.

The presence picked up a sharp wave of primal fear from the three.

No, no, I wouldn't have permitted it, but that was very dangerous.

"Who are you?" Bill asked, nervously standing between his friends as if seeking protection. That sense he'd picked up was so vast and overwhelming, making his first impression of the CR 'net seem like a cakewalk. "WHAT are you?"

Oh, I'm bad, bad, bad, it said. You see, I get curious about you little Humans, and you two caught my attention. Especially you, Mr. Maxwell.

"You're one of the green guys then," Bill said matter-of-factly.

They sensed amusement from the invisible being.

Oh, those little pests. No, of course not. They are to me as an amoeba is to you pesky Humans. A pittance, not even worthy of a nanosecond of thought.

A sense of calm washed over the three Humans, calm and peace.

"Are you doing that?" Ralph asked, smiling. It felt pretty good.

Yes, you three are getting far too upset unnecessarily.

"Well, show yerself," Bill demanded.

For you, Billy, anything. How shall I appear to you?

"Huh?"

I can be anyone or anything, just think a thought and... Okay, got it! Ooh, you're naughty, Billy.

Before any of them could respond, they saw a brilliant flash of light from the Hinkley living room.

They ran in, and standing in the middle of the room was a woman of above-average height. She had long, wavy blonde hair, fair skin, blue eyes and a fetching green gown on, her hair crowned with a ring of delicate little flowers.

Bill stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes wide as he stared at this beautiful woman of his dreams.

"How... how did you...?" he stammered.

"You wished it, Billy, and so it has come to be," the woman said. She went to him, looking up into his greenish-brown eyes. Their gazes locked, and Bill closed out everything except the ocean-blue pools staring up at him.

As he looked into those eyes, deeper and deeper, that sense of expanse and openness threatened to engulf him, to pull him in forever and merge with him, make him lose that sense of self-ness that...

He shook his head, breaking out of that mesmerizing regard.

Bill looked at Pam and Ralph, then back to this intriguing creature.

"Well you know my name, what's yours?"

She said, smiling, "You couldn't pronounce it. How about you call me Q." 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four.

"Q? That's an odd name for a beautiful dame like you," Bill said, smiling lasciviously down at the woman. He boldly put his hands on her broad shoulders, instinctively feeling that she would allow this. She was, after all, the girl of his dreams, wasn't she?

A wave of sensual pleasure swept over Bill, and she said, "Yes, but I am an odd creature, after all. But no matter."

She turned to look around the living area and the remainder of the Hinkley household, and frowned.

Pam almost instantly disliked this being who was having such fun toying with her friend's affections. She turned sharply to Ralph, who was also frowning.

"Now, look," Ralph started, moving toward the woman in green.

The being flicked her finger, and Ralph was gone.

"What the hell?" Bill said, turning sharply to Q.

Pam didn't bother exclaiming; the rush of adrenalin gave her the strength and speed she needed to deck this impertinent intruder and she moved past Bill to...

and found herself sitting quietly on the couch.

"STOP THAT!" Pam screamed, launching herself at Q.

Pam froze.

"Q, what are you doing? Get Ralph BACK here, this second!"

"Oh, very well."

A flick and Ralph was back, sitting on the couch, Pam by his side. She again launched herself at Q, determined she was going to teach this bitch a lesson.

"Pamela, please, your precious boy is unharmed. Be still."

That sense of calm and peace was instilled into the Hinkleys once more, and Pam relaxed next to her husband.

"What'd you do, Q? Where did you send Ralph?" Bill asked her.

"Oh, here and there. It matters not. Let's sit and be comfortable, Billy."

Bill suddenly found himself next to this lovely woman, on a loveseat she apparently conjured in.

"How're you doing all this?" he asked.

She reached for his arm and draped it across her shoulders, snuggling down next to him. She turned her face up to him, smiling. "I can do anything."

Bill laughed and turned to face Pam and Ralph. "Cool, my gal here can do anything."

Ralph frowned, similar to before his little "trip" courtesy of Q. "I dunno, Bill 'she' did something with me. I still don't know where I went."

"I figger she just made you invisible, kinda like the suit does."

"No, I wasn't HERE, Bill! I was... there. Wherever 'there' is."

Q remained silent while the two Earth partners discussed what happened. She finally had to speak up. "I told you, Billy, I can do ANYTHING. How much easier is it to explain?"

"That covers a lot of bases, Q," he pointed out.

Pam scowled, being quite willing to throw this woman out of her house. "We've seen some things, yes, but nothing more than we've seen the aliens do. Big deal, we're used to it now. Go try your little prestidigitations on other Humans. Or better yet, get off our planet all together."

Q laughed out loud, a boisterous chuckle that surprised Bill with its volume.

"I so love this part, proving my vastness to the unbelievers."

And before any of the Humans could respond, they were gone. Q ran them through some scenarios, things that Bill had always dreamed of doing with the suit, but never could. They busted a ring of white slavers, caught some gun-runners sneaking across the US border from Canada, intercepted the heist of an armored truck carrying money to the Federal Reserve Bank's main office.

With no sense of time passing, they were once more in the Hinkley living room.

"What the hell was THAT?" Pam exclaimed, clutching her head. Ralph and Bill were as well, shaking their heads, trying to process the sudden influx of images, experiences and memories.

"We just did a few jobs for Billy here," Q said, assuming her earlier position under Bill's enclosing arm.

"So you planted something in us, big deal," Pam said, ever the nay-sayer.

"No, we really did it. Fast and furious, that's how my Billy likes it."

Bill blushed and looked down at Q. For some reason, her knowing that did not surprise him. "Shush, you, none of that talk."

"Bill...," Ralph started to say, but paused. He wasn't too sure he liked how Q was flirting with Bill either. His older best friend seemed to be rather too comfortable with this being, whoever or whatever "she" was.

"Yeah, pard?" Bill asked absentmindedly, again losing himself in those deep blue eyes.

Before Ralph could answer, Q said, "Oh, he doesn't trust me, Billy. He doesn't like how I'm toying with you. It's all right, though, I toy with Humans quite often, and don't usually hurt them. Much, at least, unless I have to. I know this one Human, a Captain, he..."

She paused, and looked as if she changed her mind on what she wanted to say. "Oh yes, that's in your future. I forget sometime. Although not really; you see, I'm omnipotent."

"You're omnipotent, you can do anything, what are you? A goddess or something?"

Q's brow crinkled prettily as she thought about the question. "Hmmmm, god, goddess, yes, I think that covers it."

Pam had had enough. She stood up and walked to the door. "Okay, get out."

Q laughed. "You doubt me? I could merely insert the belief into your thoughts, but I know Billy here wouldn't want me changing you like that. Here, talk to your 'green guys,' they'll confirm who I am."

A flicker of fingers, and the three aliens Bill and Ralph had met previously were in the living room.

They looked around quickly, confused for a second, then spied Q sitting so cozily under Bill's arm. They stared at her for a moment, then the commander said, "Q?"

"None other. These little creatures don't believe I am who I say I am."

"And you're the one who changed the suit, so Mr. Hinkley can no longer use it, but Mr. Maxwell can?"

Q nodded her head.

The commander cleared his throat, and looked Bill in the eyes. Bill didn't know the aliens' body language, so couldn't interpret the look in the being's eyes. Perhaps it was fear? Respect?

"Q will do as he pleases. Wear it in good health, Mr. Maxwell," the green guy said, a second before he and his companions were returned from whence they came.

"See? They even gave you their blessing. Now, what do YOU want to do, Billy?"

Q wasn't going to get off that easily.

"'He?'" Bill asked, looking down at Q. The being certainly LOOKED female to Bill.

Q actually blushed. Bill and the Hinkleys didn't know the entity well enough to know what an extremely rare occurance that was. She said, "Well, um, yes, Billy. I said I can do anything, be anyone. That pest knows me in my male form."

Bill jumped off the couch. "Hey, I ain't into guys, you know."

Q stood, going once again to his side, and looked up. "Billy, I am female. Pure, one-hundred per cent Human female. XX all the way."

"Are you sure?" he asked, looking her up and down. "You sure look it."

"Yes, I am sure, Billy. I won't lie to you. I'm too proud to bother lying, so if I tell you I won't, you can bet your last little piece of green paper that I won't."

Bill laughed, "You mean dollar."

"Yes. NOW, can we get on with this?"

"On with what?"

"You. The suit. What you want to do with it."

"Don't you KNOW, since you are omnipotent?"

"Of course, but I want you to tell me where we are going to start."

Ralph and Pam, who'd been silent during this exchange, looked at one another, and Ralph turned to Bill. "Well, Bill, here's your chance. I believe you mentioned Red Square all those years ago."

"Ah, yes!" Q exclaimed, and the two were gone, leaving Ralph and Pam in their living room.

They appeared in the foyer of a huge building, with people busily breezing by as if they always saw a man and a woman pop in.

"What?" Bill said, looking around.

"Shhhh, Billy!" Q said. "You're invisible because of the suit, but they can still HEAR you, like you hear Ralph when he is invisible!"

"Oh," Bill whispered.

"I made you invisible when we popped in, but you've got to maintain it now. You're doing it all via the suit, I'm only observing."

"Wow," he sighed. He looked around the huge foyer and rotunda. It was reminiscent of the US Capitol Building. "Figgers, what'd they do, steal the design from us?"

He could see up several floors, and saw the entrance to some rather non-descript offices. If the good stuff was anywhere, it would be somewhere inconspicuous.

"I wanna start up there," he told Q. They began walking toward the huge stairway, swerving and weaving around the people rushing to and fro.

"And once you get there, what will you do?" Q asked him.

"Well, I'll sneak in, and see what documents I can nab. Piece'a cake."

"And then? What? You'll throw them on the lawn of the White House or something?"

Bill stopped, frowning as he considered what he'd do once he GOT the top secret information he'd always dreamed of getting.

"Um... I don't know, I guess. Never thought I'd actually get the chance."

"Say you get some top secret intel, let it leak in Washington, D.C., and then... what will happen between your two countries?"

All manner of scenarios popped into Bill's head as his imagination worked out what could happen.

"Oh my God," he whispered. "It'd all blow up in our faces, wouldn't it? Prob'ly literally."

Q nodded her head. "I know what would happen, yes, one way or the other. You need to decide what YOU want to do now, Billy. I'm not going to tell you anything, either way; it's entirely up to you. Do you reveal Soviet secrets to your world, or do we go somewhere more pleasant than this and have some fun?"

Bill looked down at Q and smiled at the suggestion. "I think I get your point. Now that I'm HERE and can do it, it doesn't seem like such a great idea. It'd totally throw off the balance of power, and here comes WW III."

"So what do we do?"

He looked around one more time. The people he was seeing could have been American, for all he knew. They were just normal folks, going about their usual daily routines. Suddenly "the commies" didn't seem like demons to him. He saw an older woman going through a door being held by a young man, who smiled at her. He saw three men having an animated conversation in Russian, and the three began to laugh together.

"You've shown me stuff about the com- Russians I hadn't thought about, Q. They're just normal ol' folks."

Q nodded her head. "Yes, they are, just normal pesky Humans, like you and your 'American' compatriots."

"Would you stop calling us 'pesky,' Q?"

"All right, if you insist. But you are. Where to now, Billy?"

"Back to Pam and Ralph's."

With barely a hint of time passing, Bill and Q were back in their original positions.

To Pam and Ralph, only a few seconds had elapsed.

"Whoa!" Bill said, looking around.

"Did you change your mind, Q?" Ralph asked.

"Of course not. We've been gone for about thirty of your minutes."

"You were?" Pam asked.

"Yes. Billy here had to come to a decision, and I can say now, it was a very wise one."

"Really?" Bill asked. "You mean, if I had..."

Q answered for him. "Stolen Soviet secrets and revealed them?"

"Yes."

Q nodded and motioned with her fingers, as a mushroom cloud going up, and mouthed, Foom!

"Whoa," was all Bill could say, his tanned face turning pallid.

"Of course, I know what WILL happen, and soon, to both of your countries."

When she saw Bill was going to ask, she said, "Tsk, tsk, Billy, I can't tell you! Let's just say... it'll be very surprising to you. But not in a bad way."

That was all the subtle hint Q could or would give them.

Bill shrugged, conceding to Q. "All righty, I guess I'll just have to wait."

He looked down at her, as she melded so well against him. "Can I ask a favor?"

Q knew what it was, of course, but said, "Certainly, anything, Billy."

"Anything? Hmmm, I'll have to think on that. But the suit. Can you give it back to Ralph? It just doesn't seem right, being on me. It belongs to him. He and I, and the Counselor here, we're a winnin' team, with me doing Ops."

Without a hint of doing anything, Q said, "It's done. Allow me."

She snapped dramatically, and Ralph was once again in his suit, and Bill looked down to see himself in black Levi's, black t-shirt, and green overshirt. He shrugged his shoulders and felt the comfortable presence of his shoulder holster and gun. All was as it should be.

Bill smirked at her, his eyes twinkling with humor and something else. "Now that you've taught me a lesson, how 'bout we take off again, to where did you say? Something pleasant?"

"Ooh, I knew you were naughty, Billy." Q turned to Ralph and Pam. "Didn't I tell you to watch and learn? Now see what you've learned, that Bill, when given the chance, doesn't really want to change the world. He was wise in that regard. Like he said so long ago, maybe it's better to work on the good ol' US of A first."

"How'd you..." Ralph began to say, then said, "right, you know everything. Never mind."

Q lifted her hand, as if ready to snap out of their presence, and Bill asked, "Wait, are we going?"

"We surely are, if that's what you desire."

"Um... will I be back by Monday? Gotta work, y'know."

Q laughed delicately. "Yes, you'll be back to work by what you call Monday. Even if we're gone for two of your years, you'll be back by this Monday."

Bill's stomach fluttered, partly in fear at what this being could do, partly in excitement of what may lay ahead. "Can Ralph and I still communicate? We usually have ways to keep in touch."

"Certainly. All he'll have to do is tap into the CR net and you'll be there. Wouldn't want your partner to lose track of you, after all."

"Right, good. Let's go then, Q."

And they were gone.

Fin.


End file.
